How to keep the insects out

[vegilin]

New to this forum, just taken on an allotment and starting to see my plants grow, great. Have never grown brassicas before because I can't stand the creepy crawlies that get inside and eat them. I have some really strong kale plants which I want to plant out and wonder how best to protect them from caterpillar attack Many thanks

[Hazel at the Hill]

Hi Vegilin and welcome to the Vine!

It's only my first year, so I can only speak from recommendation from fellow plot holders at the Hill who have advised me to cover brassicas with net - specifically Wilko pond and crop netting (it's brown with square holes and is quite still) the reason that this is so good (apparently) is that the holes are too small for the butterflys to get through. Also stops the bl**dy pigeons, of course!

I put my cabbages out yesterday, so I'm hoping they are alright!

[dexterdoglancashire]

Hi Vegilin and welcome to the Vine! As you can probably see, we are a very friendly bunch - with a wealth of expertise, tips and advice - so feel free to ask if you have any questions! Looking forward to hearing how you get on with your veg growing. Bernie

[Vegmonkey]

Looks fantastic Hazel...i'm so envious of your big space!

A wide selection of netting can also be found at car boot sales of which there is an abundance this time of year...i bought a cracking dutch hoe recently which does the job perfectly.

Good luck vegilin!

[shirlthegirl43]

Hello and welcome to the vine vegilin.

I have just ordered windbreak netting to go round my brassica bed. Hopefully that, with pond netting over the top, will keep the cat and other critters out. We got one cauliflower last year and it was so infested with bugs that we threw it away! Hope you have better luck!

[vegilin]

Thanks everyone, will get some netting and try that as you suggest. Went over to the allotment yest and found the tops all gone from my newly germinated peas, assume it was pigeons. I'm hoping they'll still grow now that I have them netted
Regards

[Sebbster]

Enviromesh or wondermesh is the ideal Vegilin although it is fairly expensive. I dont grow Cauli's as I dont think they're worth the trouble, but I grow all other brassicas.

My Kale is ready for planting out now also and I'm just waiting til I clear some room eating early taters. The Kale I'm going to cover with netting.

My sprouts and Broccoli's were covered with wondermesh til 3 feet high then I had to remove it as there was no more give. I've not had any problems yet but keep a close eye on those white's flying around....

[Sue]

Hi
After last's year when the pigeons treated my allotment like a buffet free for all, I put enviromesh on my Christmas list, boring but very necessary and very expensive.
It's paid dividends. I've got one bed with a cabbage uncovered and the same variety under cover - you wouldn't think they're the same plant.

Only don't do what I did and plant flowering things and non flowering things in the same bed.... hence the uncovered cabbage mentioned above.

The trouble is making a cover big enough, it's quite stiff so difficult to mould round a raised bed although I did have some success using elastic to hold it in place (knicker leg strength x 10). I think I might have to get the sewing machine out this winter and make some nice fitted covers, that is once I've scrubbed all the pots and the plant labels.
best wishes
Sue

[sewer rat]

I am right beside a grain dryer and processor so have about 150 resident pigeons. They trashed all my brassicas as soon as transplanted them. However, all is not lost. My major weed problem is OSR (oil seed rape) which is also a brassica. So what did I do - I stopped hoeing and weeding - my brassicas now hide amongst the weeds and are slowly recovering despite being stripped to almost veins only earlier. I know I'll have to clear the weeds soon but for the moment, they can hide

[blackcatlois]

On harvesting some cabbages yesterday I noticed that the leaves had lots of tiny brown holes in them - on washing them ready for cooking I found a fair few of what looks like earwigs in them! Is this common with cabbages - although we ate them I'm expecting nothing much can be done about it to prevent this kind of infestation?